Mick Cronin, Bob Huggins’ Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator, has left the head coach and the University of Cincinnati over night. Where did he go? To the next best thing in Conference USA: newly appointed Coach Rick Pitino’s University of Louisville Cardinals. Why? There is no clear cut answer except for lack of loyalty to the man that put Cronin on college basketball’s map.
Mick Cronin was nothing more than the Junior Varsity Coach at Woodward High in 1996 when Coach Huggins hired him as his team’s video coordinator. Cronin soon became a full-time assistant and earned a reputation as a tireless recruiter. He grew up in Cincinnati and is a LaSalle High graduate as well as a UC alum just like his dad.
So why did he leave? He seems to think that working under Pitino will improve his chances to be a head coach even more than working with Huggins. That is a slap in the face to our much respected head coach, no matter how you lay it out. Cronin said, “Everything I learned about the college game, I learned from Huggins, including what it takes to win: hard work on and off the floor.”
Well, then why did you leave Mick? We all know that Huggs has been here a dozen or so years and will continue to coach here (if you ignore the rumors) somewhere between 5 to 10 more seasons, if we are that lucky.
The scenario that Cronin, 29, should and could have followed was simple. Wait your turn while working for one of the best coaches in this country and then the basketball program would have been handed over to you. How hard is that? Think of the further knowledge you would have attained. You could have had your hometown team for years to come, that is, if you succeed as a Division I head coach at all.
So why did Cronin leave? Huggins can’t be thrilled about this whole situation. In fact, sources say he was quite surprised when he heard of Cronin’s interest in Louisville. The man obviously left Cincinnati on a bad note and went to a team that we will be playing at least twice a season, if not more in tournaments.
It was a distasteful way for him to leave his hometown and the man that is responsible for his being involved with college basketball.
Good things come to those who wait, and I can’t wait to drill Pitino and Cronin’s Louisville Cardinals three or four times next season.